What Was
by Chicken Licken
Summary: Sequel to Good Riddance. You can't be together until you conquer all.
1. The Beginning to the End

What Was :: 1 ::  
  
"So, " Voldemort said, debating over whether or not to stand up from his chair. He knew that his legs may bot be able to support him with the throbbing pains in his head. "So,"  
  
Peter whimpered, and a hodded figure pulled harshly on the chains that held his usually thick wrists. He stumbled to the floor.  
  
The Dark Lord continued, swirling a long key between his bony fingers as he spoke. "I hear you were in quite close contact with 3 men, 2 of which almost ruined me that night in the woods. Now Peter, kindly listen carefully and maybe I'll have my men release you from those chains. " Voldemort squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds, and then cleared his throat. "If you could, please describe your relationship with these people."  
  
Peter was beathing unevenly, almost like he had been running for a long distance. His eyes flicked from Voldemort, to the tall hooded figure, to the locked and barred door to his right.  
  
"Speak," came a whisper. Peter looked up, and saw that Voldemort was now standing quite close to him. He squatted down to be face to face with Peter.  
  
"Hogwarts, sir." he swallowed, "We were in Hogwarts together, same year. I was even in their house, in their dorm. We were friends back then, real good friends. We even made a map of the school together. People called us the Marauders. That was me, Remus, Sirius, and James. All four of us. Now I haven't seen them for about 8 years now. I got a nice letter from James, seems he's getting married." Peter stopped to sctratch something in his ear while looking confused. "Not sure who his bride is, I didn't read that far down. Always thought he'd have married that Evans girl, what's her name - "   
  
"Lillian." Voldemort said through gritted teeth. "Lillian Evans."   
  
Peter saw that Voldemort's grasp on the key was now so tight that his knuckles were becoming white.  
  
"Yeah, yeah that sounds about right. Anyways, I don't think that was the name on the card, maybe it was 'Annabelle' or something like it. Why are you so interested in them?"  
  
Voldemort made a sudden movement towards Peter's neck, but stopped himself. Peter, however, recoiled.  
  
"Peter Pettigrew. I never would have thought that you'd be so interested." he stood, and ordered Peter to do the same. "But, these friends of yours, they always treated you nicely, of course."   
  
"Well, yeah. None of them would ever have said or done anything against me. Like I said, they were my friends."  
  
"But even your friends have done something to you at least once to make you angry."  
  
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Nope."  
  
"Annoyed?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Frustrated?"  
  
"No, I don't think so."  
  
"Aggrivated even?"  
  
"Look, these guys were -"  
  
"Jealous?"  
  
Peter stopped mid sentence.  
  
"W-well, maybe jealous."  
  
"Hmm,when did that happen?"  
  
"I really don't want to talk about it."  
  
"I would strongly suggest you talk about it. I never liked anyone who withheld information from me."  
  
Peter swallowed a lump in his thraot.   
  
"Well, uh, these guys were sort of popular. Morelike the most popular at the school. I became their friend after getting tutored by James and Sirius. We just formed a relationship after a while. But I knew I'd never be as popular as they were. I was okay with that."  
  
Voldemort sneered. "You could have been."  
  
"Could have been what?"  
  
Voldemort clenched his teeth momentarily at Peter's slowness. "Popular. You could have been popular, Peter."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"But it seems to me that what stopped you were your friends. Of course you could have been well known. They stopped you. They must not have wanted competition. You must have posed a real threat in Hogwarts. Peter, it was because of them that no one knew you, or wanted to know you."  
  
Peter looked as if he was contemplating something. Suddenly he narrowed his eyes.  
  
"I don't think they'd do that."  
  
"But they made you jealous, Peter."  
  
"They made me jealous."  
  
"When was the worst time they made you feel that way?"  
  
"I - I don't "  
  
"Damn it Peter! Just tell me!" Voldemort's eyes suddenly flamed red and he seemed to grow a foot taller.  
  
"5th year." Peter shot out. "James got an award from the school after I let him take credit for finding a secret chamber that held some documents about the Ministry. He got all sorts of recognition for it. I almost hated him."  
  
Voldemort smiled an evil grin that Peter didn't see. This was going to be easy here on in. He invited Peter to sit in his chair, even.  
  
*  
  
James stood up from the floor, and pulled Lily to her feet. Lily just wanted him to hold her again, but holding his hand as they exited the bathroom amid stares and whispers was enough to keep the smile on her face. When the two of them neared the nurse's station, a loud applause erupted from the lot of them, the stout nurse looking on the verge of tears.   
  
And from behind them, the Head Nurse Dora eyed Lily severely, and Lily felt a lump in her throat as Dora came up to her.   
  
Dora had a reputation for being strict.  
  
Moreover, strict with Lily.  
  
Lily watched her as she shook her head dissaprovingly, and tapping her left foot impatiently on the polished floor. Lily swallowed.  
  
Dora handed her a clipboard before walking away. Lily took her hand away from James', and flipped through the papers. James rested his elbow on Lily's shoulder while watching her do this.  
  
On about the third or fourth page, Lily saw a bright yellow post-it note. It read:  
  
Evans,   
  
Don't scare my candy stripers when you're still on vacation for another 4 days.  
  
Go home.  
  
D  
  
Lily looked up, and saw Dora typing numbers for a phone call. She smiled.  
  
"Thank you Dora."  
  
The nurse waved an impatient hand and sat down in a chair.  
  
Lily dropped the clipboard onto the counter, and left, thinking that she was finally getting a break in life - and that things were finally going her way.  
  
*  
  
James and Lily held hands ad they walked down a dirt path in a huge park, just after the sun had set and the first stars had appeared in the night sky. They spoke rarely this time, more content to just be in one another's presence. In a way, Lily preferred this, after everything that had happened, after all the chaos and anxiety, to just be at peace. James felt as though time had stopped for them, just long enough to let everything fall into place. Both of them felt so much in love, and it just radiated off of the beautiful surrounding landscape.  
  
They rounded a corner, and came out to a small clearing, where the ground had been paved with cobblestones, and a few chess tables lined one outer edge. This was where James stopped, and faced Lily. He kissed her softly, and then began dancing with her to a completely mute sound.   
  
"No music?" she asked quietly into his shoulder.  
  
"Oh - er - let's see. What song should I sing?"he said, looking suddenly pensive.  
  
"No, " Lily said with a slight smile on her face, "no, we won't want to wake up any innocent animals in the African Rainforests. No sound is a good sound."  
  
"I beg your pardon? I happen to be a regular at Elga's Kareoke Bar." he said, twirling Lily under his arm.  
  
"That would explain why she went out of business four years ago, then?"  
  
"I -" he started, but his face broke into a lopsided grin and he realized he was defeated. "Okay, fine."  
  
Lily was at the epitome of happiness. She closed her eyes and felt safe with him. It was impossible to imagine how many butterflies were fluttering in her stomach at that moment, but she didn't care much anyways. Lily was going to spend the rest of her life with James, and nothing, nothing was going to change that.  
  
Lily suddenly stopped, and James did the same. Lily could have sworn she'd heard voices. Her back was toward the edge of the clearing. James took her strongly by the hand and swung her behind him. His eyes were narrowed, shoulders stiff.  
  
Lily was trying to keep her breath steady and her heart from pounding so fast. Instinct told her not to make a sound. She too was watching the edge of the clearing, for any sign. Lily wanted to regulate her breathing. She had no idea why she was so scared. It was probably just an animal, she kept repeating to herself.   
  
Deep breaths, in and out, in and - a huge hand clamped suddenly over her mouth. Lily jumped, and squeezed James' hand as hard as she could. He turned around, and within a heartbeat had punched the cloaked figure square in the face. The figure stumbled backwards, although not letting go of Lily. James still held onto her hand, and was about to punch him again, had he not been suddenly seized himself by a similar figure. A few others emerged from the shadows, aiding in the attempt to separate the couple.  
  
"No!" James kept yelling.  
  
Lily could barely breathe, and saw a few wands being pointed at her.   
  
'No,' she thought, well aware of who these cloaked people were.'You can't take him!'  
  
Every particle of her brain was focused on holding onto him. She felt her grip weakening, as the figure tried to step backwards. Lily thrashed out her free arm and legs, fighting against it. She managed to pry her mouth open slightly from behind the hand, and brought her teeth back together as firmly as she could.   
  
The figure cried out, removing his hand for the slightest second. He was bleeding. However, a few of the others stepped in, grabbing her again.   
  
"No! James!" she screamed out. Her grip was slipping on him.  
  
Soon it went from palm to palm, then to fingers, and finally to fingertips, before they broke apart, still crying out to each other. Lily was seized around the shoulders by one, and struck in the face by another. Her world went black as her whole body became limp in the arms of these Death Eaters.  
  
'No,' she kept thinking, 'They can't take James! They won't let him live! They can't take him!'  
  
Soon Lily's thoughts crept back into blackness too. She was captured. 


	2. Where they stand

What Was :: 2 ::  
  
James felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach, even though he didn't think he had the muscle power anyways. His eyes opened halfway, and blinked a few times. He groaned. Now that he was awake, everything somehow felt worse. He was laying down on cold hard concrete in a small room lit only by a bright light fixture hanging from the celing. It reminded him of an interrogation area at Auror HQ.  
  
He was able to push himself up to a seated position, and rested his elbow on his knee. He rubbed his eyes, trying to coax them into accepting the light.  
  
"James Foster Potter."  
  
James jumped. He thought he was by himself. He looked around wildly. Garrison Wallace was sitting on the edge of a small table on the opposite side of the room.   
  
The room.  
  
It was an interrogation room.   
  
It was at Headquarters.  
  
Garrison Wallace was James' boss. James tried to stand up, but couldn't. Garrison didn't move. Instead, he picked up a file folder that had been beside him on the desk. James recognised it at once. It was his own personal file.  
  
"Six years I've been waiting patiently for you to give me a lead. Were you going to let me wait another six years?"  
  
Garrison slammed down the file on the ground, a few papers scattering over the floor. James had never seen him like this.  
  
"D'you honestly think you could have let this slide past me without me finding out? What the hell do you take me for?" He jumped from the table and walked dangerously fast at James. "We could have had him, Potter. And then, all this time on your vacation, you went - " he seemed to be looking for a proper word, " - FRATERNIZING with an enemy!You're lucky she didn't flee the country, and you're even luckier that we separated you from her. I'm gonna overlook the fact that you broke the nose of Guy Peters, and struggled against your own force. Go get your ass down to administration. I want to see that pile of paperwork done before next Tuesday. If this Evans breaks and spills something halfway decent, maybe she'll get an oceanfront cell."  
  
"Where is she? What did you do with her?" James said, in a bit of a panic.  
  
"That's none of your concern anymore."  
  
"I made it mine a long time ago. You don't have a clue what you're doing! You don't even know the half of it, for christ's sake!"  
  
"Know half of what?" suddenly Garrison's eyes bulged, and he ran to the door. His hand slammed the lock, and he whirled around again.   
  
"You know more than you're letting on, James. Now both our lives are on the line, and you go getting all 'lovey dovey'. What's gotten into you?"  
  
"Only loyalty and morality," James said, suddenly finding himself on his feet. Garrison looked red in the face.  
  
"Just let me see her. It's all I ask right now."  
  
Garrison seemed torn between the decision. James knew full well that he was furious beyond belief at James' un-aurorlike history, but he also didn't want to risk losing his best employee. He stared angrily at James for a minute, and then shook his finger at him.  
  
"Five minutes. And do me a favour, keep all this quiet when you go home today. The last thing I need is for this to go public."  
  
James kept a straight face, but a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He nodded.   
  
Garrison nodded back, and pulled on his tie. He shook his shoulders like a boxer would before a match, and opened the door. James followed behind him, wordlessly.  
  
*  
  
Lily was awake, even though her eyes were still closed. She knew by the cold hard surface underneath her that she was laying on a stone floor. Painfully, she opened her eyes, afraid of what she'd see.   
  
She had expected a cell like this one, but not this cell itself. The ones she had heard of in Voldemort's lair were far less clean,.dry, and less bright. She sat up, squinting at the hall beyond the barred cell. It was slightly dim, there was an empty cell identical to hers directly across from Lily. She rubbed her eye, and knew that it was bruised, yet not swollen. Her arms were sore as well, with red welts where she had been restrained.   
  
So they couldn't have been Death Eaters. She'd have come out much worse if they had been. A sudden thought of James made her breath catch in her throat. Where did these people take him? Who were they anyways, and how did they know they were in the park?  
  
Lily's head spun with wild possibilities, when she suddenly heard the click of a lock. She tried to jump to her feet, but fell back again. She buried her head in her knees.  
  
Garrison held up his hand, indicating silently that James had 5 minutes. He nodded, and Garrison left, closing the door behind him.   
  
James walked slowly down the hallway, looking intently into each cell. They were all empty, and then he reached one that held a small redhead. He swallowed a lump in his throat.  
  
"Lils?"  
  
Lily raised her head, and looked around, seeing James staring down at her. She got up slowly this time, trying to stop shaking. She felt terrified behind these bars, all alone.  
  
Lily stepped foreward slowly.  
  
James saw her black eye and dissheveled appearance. She looked so confused and hurt. His bottom lip quivered slightly. Lily shot foreward, grasping his hand. She kissed it gently. His fingers were cold. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.   
  
"I thought I'd lost you," she said in barely more than a whisper.  
  
James rested his head on the bars, and looked straight into her eyes. He was strongly reminded of his last year in Hogwarts, all those days in class, when they'd hated each other - and how it changed. Somehow she was his match through it all. It took him 7 years to see what the rest of the school had seen after a few days.  
  
"I'm so sorry," he said.  
  
Lily didn't say anything, but rested her forehead against his.  
  
"I'll still kiss you before you leave." she said calmly. James squeezed his eyes shut to stop crying. He felt her forehead leave his, and he felt her lips come softly over his. He kept his eyes closed, and the kiss became more passionate. Lily felt a few warm tears spill onto her face, as she tried to force back her own.  
  
They broke away from each other, breathless.  
  
"I love you."  
  
James nodded in return, unable to speak. He couldn't reach through these bars, and even though she was just a foot away, he still ached for her.   
  
*  
  
Garrison peered through a small window in the door to the cells, then looked up at a man almost twice his size.   
  
"Owl Azkaban, would you? There'll be a new occupant on the way tonight, I wouldn't want them to be unprepared. I've had enough of this puppy love. I'll get some sense into that boy yet. I can make him see reason. I just need to fool him first."  
  
The tall man nodded quickly, and headed off down the hall to the owlry. 


	3. Journey to Azkaban

~Hello again. Okay, I promise that this won't ever happen again. Well, I promise two things will never happen again. One, there won't be another gap in my updates, and two, there won't be another explanation thing like this again. That's it. Just wanted to clarify. Okay, we can move on now. C.L.  
  
  
What Was :: 3 ::  
  
Lily was shaking violently when James left. Garrison had to push him out the door, reminding him that they had been given 10 minutes.  
  
"Administration, James. Those assignments won't complete themselves."  
  
James turned to look his boss in the face. "I will prove her innocent, and then you'll be on your knees, apologizing."  
  
Garrison didn't say anything, but stared coldly back.   
  
  
James pounded the concrete floor with his feet as he made his way downstairs. 'Screw administration,' he thought. He'd quit the ministry before going to do paperwork at a time like this. He walked straight past that office, or he would have liked to, because someone stopped him at the door.  
  
He was a large man, at least a foot taller than James, who stood at 6'2.   
  
"Phone's free." he said, with a malicious grin. "If you wanted to make a call, that is."  
  
"I'm on my way out, thanks."  
  
"Not without these. Mr. Wallace wanted me to make sure you got them before you left." he said, not blinking. The man held up a box overflowing with papers. He shoved it roughly into James' hands.   
  
"Or did you want me to carry that to your car for you?"  
  
"Only if I don't have to read out what the exit sign says."  
  
The man was about to reply, but James had already left by then, muttering under his breath. He came out into a deserted Diagon Alley, in early morning.  
  
*  
  
Lily sat down on the frozen matress, more terrified than she had ever been in her life. She again heard the click of a door, and jumped to the cell bars, hoping to see James running towards her - key in hand.  
  
Instead, the large man came ambling down the dimly lit hall, and stopped in front of where Lily stood. He laughed heartily, and he twirled the skeleton keys round a plump finger before stuffing them in his pocket.  
  
"Your boyfriend left, he's got better things to attend to than get you out of here. But that's exactly why i'm here. See, it's been decided by a higher power that you won't be staying with us no more. There's another place that will be better able to keep you, and you might go as far as to say that they'd kiss you upon arrival. That is, if you don't come quietly. I punched you good the first time, but my arm can do much worse. Your carraige awaits you now, m'lady."  
  
He bowed low, laughing heartily again. Lily thought to kick his head through the bars, but if she missed, god knows what that man could do. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.  
  
The man was chuckling to himself now, as he slipped a key into the rusted lock. The bars screeched open, Lily stepped back. It rattled back, with a slight swish of air. It somehow made Lily feel weak. He pulled on her wrist, and snapped handcuffs over them.  
  
"Special made. These won't do nothing, even with magic."  
  
"The primitiveness of your restraints humors me."  
  
The man hadn't a clue what she was saying, but her tone suggested that it wasn't the nicest of comments. He made the cuffs so small it became painful. He took Lily's wand from her jacket pocket, and slipped it into his sleeve.  
  
"I'll carry this."  
  
He pulled on a thin chain that had been attached to the cuffs, and led her quickly out of the area.  
  
"Mind that you keep quiet, or those cuffs'll be as small as they come."  
  
Lily narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. It was impossible for her to even rubb her hands to keep them warm. Meanwhile, the large man had lit himself a fat cigar, which gave off a foul stench.  
  
She would have admitted that she felt safer in the cell than being led somewhere by this man. He was leading her through dimly lit hallways and corridors, until they reached a massive steel doorway. The man looked halfway over his shoulder before typing in a six digit code on a keypad.  
  
"Just like what them muggles got. Quite a bunch, they is."  
  
Lily cleared her throat.  
  
When the door swung noiselessly open, she was looking straight into the back of a large black carraige. It was even horse drawn. A man dressed all in black turned round to look at them.   
  
"One way trip to Azkaban, I presume. No stops, yes?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. This is the package you'll be delivering. Make sure it gets there."  
  
"You can rest assured. I've been known for my reliability."  
  
The big man nodded curtly, and turned to Lily.  
  
"Get in."  
  
She didn't move as suddenly as he wanted, so he shoved her roughly into the small carraige. The man laughed heartily at this, and then Lily was left in pitch black darkness, as he slammed and locked the doors shut.  
  
Lily was again pitched foreward as the carraige lumbered onward. Her sides ached, but she was no longer worried. She sat in what felt like an upright position, and extracted her wand that she had managed to pickpocket as the oaf was in conversation. Within seconds she was free of the restraints, which proved to be - in fact - normal muggle cuffs. Her only obstacle now was to free herself from the carraige.  
  
  
*  
  
James had rounded the corner, and noticed a battered grate literally hanging off of its hinges. He placed the box on the ground and stooped to investigate. With a little pressure, the grate came clean away. He pulled the box closer, and then placed it inside, far back enough not to be seen in broad daylight. He then replaced the grate as best he could.  
  
"There. I'll be back for you some other time."  
  
Just to be even safer, he pulled a metal wastebin to partly cover the scene. Satisfied, he tore off in the direction he'd come, eager to talk to a friend of his.  
  
He pulled a cell phone from his pocket, and pressed a button for a special number on speed dial. It connected him to his best friend, only this line was for real emergencies. They didn't give the number out to anyone else.   
  
Sirius picked up the phone on the second ring.  
  
"This had better be important."  
  
James choked out a "Sirius?" through tears. He heard a fork clatter to the floor in the background.  
  
"Jesus. Where is she?"  
  
*  
  
Lily had felt her way to the two doors, feeling her way around until she found where the lock was. She was successful in finding a lock at the top of the exit, with a small brass handle somewhere near the middle. Again bringing her wand out, she muttered 'Alohomora', but the lock didn't budge. Lily sat back on her heels to think.  
  
She looked up at the top of the carraige, ready to pray to some higher power for enlightenment, when she noticed that the carraige was lined with approximately a two inch border of a dark wire mesh. It was probably to allow air flow, but Lily's heart suddenly jumped into her throat.  
  
The mesh was thick, but Lily could make out the shoulders of the driver, and upon closer inspection, she also noticed that the mesh was attached clumsily with miniature staples. She crept to the back, farthest away from where the driver sat, and attempted to pry a corner of the mesh away from the aged wood.  
  
It happened quickly and without much noise. The quiet drum of the pebbled path drowned out the louder noises. Soon Lily had constructed a fair size hole. She was able to stick her hand out, and wrap her fingers around the lock itself. She looked behind her, and watched the silhouette of the shoulders sway gently with the rhythmic bouncing of the carraige. She swallowed, afraid to breathe.  
  
And it was then that her fingers ran over the keyhole. She knew right away that it would take a type of old skeleton key to undo it. Her other hand reached slowly to her hair, and removed a small black bobby pin.  
  
It was getting darker somehow, when Lily noticed that they were in a sheltered part of some forest. She had to soon strain to see her entourage. Her heart was punding against her ribcage. Every second she spent doing this made it seem more impossible to end. Her hands were shaking, not out of coldness, but out of fear.  
  
She grasped the bobby pin and traced it around the lock, trying to find the hole again.  
  
And that's when the pin slid in. Making a loud, hollow click sound.  
  
Lily held her breath. Was the carraige moving? Oh, lord, it was slowing down. Lily watched ahead of her unblinkingly, trying to see the man. Lily dropped the bobby pin without thinking. She pulled valiantly on her wrist to slide it out of the hole.  
  
It wouldn't budge.  
  
She could hear the driver's feet slam down on the pathway, as if he had jumped from his seat. Lily threw her weight onto her hand, but to no avail. And then,   
  
"Well well well. What do we have here?"  
  
Lily could hear him step up onto the small ledge behind the door. He proceeded to unlock the door, but just as he went to grasp the handle, he realized his mistake.  
  
Lily kicked the door with all the force she could muster, knocking him clean off the carraige and a few feet farther. Lily could have laughed, had her wrist not just been freed from its place. She screamed in pain. The rotten wood and rusted wire mesh cat sut deeply into her hand and wrist. It was begining to bleed.   
  
Lily looked from her hand to the pathway, where she saw the man trying to stand up. Immediately, she used her unscathed right hand to extract her wand.  
  
"Stupefy!"  
  
The driver went back again, momentarily paralyzed.  
  
"Accio wand!"  
  
His wand came flying out of his pocket and in front of her feet. She picked it up, and waited patiently for the man to revive himself. She couldn't feel her left arm anymore. Finally, after seconds of waiting, the man stirred.  
  
"Get up."  
  
The man pushed himself to a seated position, before wiping his forehead with his sleeve.  
  
"You've just made a horrible mistake."  
  
"Have I?"  
  
The man reached for an empty pocket.   
  
"Oh, I already have your wand, sir."  
  
"And do you think that just because you have a wand, you can defeat a man?" he laughed too heartily for Lily's liking.  
  
"Rest assured, I could pound your face in the mud. I've been known for my reliability. Shame you won't remember me though. Obliviate!"  
  
And the man rocked back, feet flying over his head in a burst of blue light, admiring the way his socks looked like in the moonlight. The woman, on the other hand, had fled. 


	4. Marge, Coraline, and Olivia

What Was :: 4 ::  
  
A man in a grey suit was pulling small blue plastic booties over his expensive Armani shoes. He hated working on the weekends. Angrily, he pulled plastic gloves over his hands, and re-adjusted his glasses.  
  
"I hate you, Wallace." he muttered under his breath.   
  
He placed a communicator on his head, and twisted the mouthpeice towards him.   
  
"Okay, I'm outside the door, for christ's sake." he said. Garrison's voice spilled into his head.  
  
"Bravo. Is it locked?"  
  
"Fuck, Wallace, don't pull me in here on a Saturday and feed me this,"  
  
"Just get in there, damn it."  
  
The man shook his head, reached for a wand, and a minute later the door sprung open a crack. His hand slipped into the crack, dragging his fingers across the wall until he found the small box he was looking for. He quickly disarmed the apartment and slipped inside.  
  
He quietly closed the door behind him, and flicked the lights on. He wasn't afraid of the owner being here,she was in Azkaban at this moment, so said his boss.  
  
"Now what am I looking for?"  
  
"This girl has got to have something we can use against her in trial. She's a deatheater, for goodness sake. Go through the personal stuff."  
  
At this the man smiled. When Garrison Wallace had asked him to do this, he had asked if there was a warrant to search involved. Garrison said no. He loved this sort of thing. It made work more interesting.  
  
He grunted into the mouthpiece. Approval.   
  
The man walked into the apartment. He traced a finger on the dark wooden table, and looked around more carefully. This woman had taste, he thought, but she seemed somewhat of a packrat. There was a few items that she must have kept since she was in school. Upon closer inspection, she had kept all of her school books. He picked up a transfiguration textbook.  
  
"Property of L. Evans." That part had an "x" through it. Underneath was "J.Potter" , which was also "x" -ed. It carried on like this, several times.  
  
"Cute." he muttered to himself. He tossed it back on the pile of textbooks, clearly not amused, and made his way into the bedroom.   
  
He dropped to his hands and knees, and looked under the bed. A few photo albums, slippers, more books.  
  
"Westley-"  
  
The man jumped, and his head smacked the bedframe.  
  
"Dammit, what the hell do you want?"  
  
"Do - you - have - anything - ANYTHING - yet?"  
  
"I'll let you know."  
  
"So nothing yet,"  
  
"Just give me more time. It's not like she'll burst in on me."  
  
Wallace laughed. Westley rolled his eyes, and shifted a pile of books to one side, grabbing a photo album. He crawled out from under the bed, and sat on his heels.  
  
It was a bunch of photos from school. He even saw Potter in them. And then, "Wait - what's this woman look like again?"  
  
"Red hair, kinda curly. Green eyes, average height. Why?"  
  
"Nothing." he said. 'So that must be her', he thought, 'The one that's yelling at James.' He smiled. 'They must have been so cute.'  
  
The man, Westley, suddenly felt awkward. He felt as if he shouldn't be there. Garrison suddenly heard a book cover slam shut.  
  
"Everything okay?"  
  
Westley remembered James from when he worked in the office. James was hilarious. Him and Sirius. Westley got a picture of James looking lovingly at Lily in his head, and felt overwhelmingly queasy. He ran for the bathroom, and threw up in the toilet.  
  
"Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
Westley regained composure.'Snap out of it,' he thought.  
  
"I'm fine."   
  
He stood, and opened the medicine cabinet. He pushed a few items to the side, until he found the pepto-bismol. He unscrewed the cap, and chugged half of it away.   
  
"Get it together, you idiot." he muttered more to himself, hoping Wallace didn't hear him.  
  
Lazily putting the cap back on, he absent mindedly looked again at the medicine cabinet.  
  
The bottle dropped from his hands, and he made no move to pick it up again. Pink liquid seaped onto the floor, but he took no notice.  
  
"Wallace?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Westley took out a small box, white, with a small prescription sticker label on one side.   
  
Lillian O. Evans M.D.  
Rheumordic Epiderma Mortomises (A/N: Completely made that one up)  
Taken externally once weekly until gone, or until scar becomes less visible.  
06/15/1981  
  
"June 15th, 1981, wasn't that just a few days after one of them meetings?"  
  
"Why are you asking me that now? I guess it is, didn't I assign that case to you to file away?"  
  
"Yes, but that isn't why I'm asking."  
  
"So what's with the questions?"  
  
"You may want to know the details before I bring you your discriminatory evidence, and it was only one question."  
  
Westley listened to Garrison Wallace laughing heartily, papers flying in the background, until he clicked of his communication piece,and flicked off the lights. He was eager to take off these stupid booties.  
  
*  
  
Lily had been walking, sometimes running, in a scattered direction for the past two months. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of the night she escaped. She remembered it well.   
  
Once she had freed the man of his memory, she ran deep into the darkened wood, snapping his wand in half as she went. She had to stop shortly thereafter, feeling the effects of her wound. She tried mending it magically, but her inexperience left it scarred and sore. She tore the hem off her sleeve and wrapped it tightly around her hand. She then began running again, trying to put as much space between her and the road as possible.  
  
Lily ambled into a small town, cold and starving. The sun had just set then.  
  
She had only 4 pounds left in her pocket, not nearly enough to feed her for more than two days, even if she ate little. The rest of her original 47 was gone, having diminished in the previous months. Suddenly Lily felt like she was going to faint from exhaustion. She leaned on a wooden fence that served as a barrier for an adjacent diner. She swallowed a lump in her throat, and fell down on her rear to recouperate.  
  
That was when she realized that she was sitting on the sidewalk - just as it was getting dark, looking a mess. Her hair was in an untidy ponytail, her clothes dirty and ripped in places, and her shoes looking even more pathetic than usual. People would have thought she was a wandering, homeless person.   
  
But she was.   
  
She got to her feet again, although her legs screamed out in protest. A door banged open in front of her, and two women came tumbling out, almost tripping over their heels.  
  
"Thanks a lot!" one yelled back through the door, while the other shook out her skirt.  
  
"I swear to god, no one appreciates talent anymore." said the other, after a moment.  
  
The women looked only slightly older than Lily. One turned at the moment Lily was watching them, and caught her eye.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked.  
  
Lily felt stupid at being caught staring.   
  
"Uhm, O- Olivia." she stuttered, giving them her middle name.  
  
"Well, Olivia, you look like you need a drink."  
  
"Oh, n-no thank you."  
  
"Oh come on," said the other, "We need to vent some feelings to a third party. It'll be fun."  
  
Her arm linked with Lily's and led her off across the street, while the other linked her other arm.   
  
"My name is Margaret, but you can call me Marge, or Margie-"  
  
"And mine is Coraline. Just Coraline."  
  
"This really isn't necessary,"  
  
"Oh, hush up. Just follow my lead."  
  
"What lead, Marge? You can't even keep a note."  
  
"Shut up, we've got company."  
  
And Lily smiled to herself. She was glad to have someone to talk to, a place to go ( even if it was only for a while). She spent the evening with these women in a small pub,just talking about nonsense. She found that they were aspiring singers, currently down on luck. They didn't pry about Lily's life story, and she was thankful. They just wanted to tell stories. In the end, they offered Lily a place to stay the night, once they learned that she didn't have one yet.  
  
They had been staying at a modest hotel for the while that they were in that town.  
  
"You can kip out on that couch, I'll call down for some extra blankets."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Now you can stop it with those thank yous."  
  
"Hey, Olivia, how's your singing voice?"  
  
"Coraline!"  
  
"What? I'm only asking! There's no harm in asking. You're a soprano, aren't you Olivia?"  
  
"I don't sing. "  
  
"Bah, everyone sings."  
  
" 'Cept you."  
  
"Now you shut up, go boil some water for tea."  
  
Marge went to the kitchen to boil water, muttering incomprehensible words under her breath. She emerged a moment later.  
  
"It'll whistle." she said curtly to Coraline.  
  
"Olivia," Coraline said gently, "Why was you sitting on the sidewalk? And what happened to your clothes?"  
  
"A lot happened to me, I suppose - It's just - What happened was - Maybe if I started - "Lily said, debating over what to tell them.  
  
"Oooh, are you on the run? That's okay by us, we're almost the same. Well, only because we're always moving, never stopping."  
  
"I, well I guess I am on the run. But it's complicated, because I'm innocent."  
  
"How good am I?" Marge said quietly to herself. "Go on," she told her.  
  
And then Lily found herself spilling her story to these women. Oddly enough, she felt good after she told someone. She did, however, alter the magical parts. When she mentioned the part where she hurt her wrist, they both looked at it, frowns of disgust on their faces.   
  
Lily fell asleep there, feeling calmer than she would ever have expected being in the position she was in.  
  
Lily had a nightmare there. She dreamed that James had been tortured and then killed after not turning in any information about her. She awoke in a cold sweat. Everything was dark, except for a stream of light coming in from a window. She shook her head, and stood up, wanting to go splash water on her face.   
  
Her bare foot slipped into the stream of light.  
  
But then there was no light. Lily looked quickly at the window, and screamed a terrible scream. She saw a figure, a cloaked figure, and it was staring right at her. 


	5. He strikes again

What Was :: 5 ::  
  
Mage tore into the living room, closely followed by Coraline. They were a moment late to see the figure at the window, but Lily's reaction had told them all they needed to know.   
  
"Olivia, what happened?"  
  
Lily was shaking like a leaf.   
  
"I have to leave, they've found me - oh, I have to leave."  
  
"Then we're coming too."  
  
"No we're - " she looked at Marge, "Yes we are. I'll get our things."  
  
"No, no there isn't time! Get your shoes."  
  
Lily interrupted. "Listen, there's something I haven't told you yet. Promise me you'll understand and not be afraid."  
  
Both of the women stopped mid sentence and stared at Lily. She brought out her wand.  
  
"I'm a -"  
  
It was at that moment that half the wall blasted away, covering them all with debris. Marge and Coraline screamed. Lily pushed them into the kitchen and shut the door. She whirled around, and saw a familiar face.  
  
"The boss is angry. So I'm angry."  
  
"Lucious." she said through her teeth. She raised her wand, furious. "I'm not coming with you."  
  
"Fine, but then if you don't come to us, we come to you, and your two friends."   
  
He smacked his lips. "They wont be around for long."  
  
"GET OUT!" she screamed. "Expelliarmus!"  
  
His wand flew out of his hands. She caught it and tossed it into the debris, raising her wand again. "Get out!"  
  
Lucious raised his hand calmly, and curled his fingers slightly. The wand rose out of the rubble and back to his hand.  
  
"If it's a duel you want, you can have it, Evans. But Lord Voldemort wants you unscathed, so I'm forced to be civil."  
  
"Blasting away a wall is civil?"  
  
Lucious shrugged.   
  
"Sure."  
  
Lily tried to keep her wand steady and look menacing. She couldn't. Not for very long, anyways.  
  
"You just make it worse for everyone, you know. Your friends, your parents, James." he was ticking off the list on his fingers.  
  
Lily felt a surge of adrenaline course through her body. Her wand became dead still. He saw it too.  
  
"You're a sad, sorry piece of work, Evans. It's time you learned that."  
  
Lily was about to throw hexes, but he was gone in a swish of his cloak. She dropped her wand.   
  
"Damn it," she breathed, "Damn it!"  
  
She pocketed her wand, and thrust aside a broken lamp to get to the kitchen door.  
  
"Dont you come any clo - oh, it's you."  
  
Lily's shaking fit came back again, and she slid to the floor.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I've brought you into this and now -" Lily wiped madly at her eyes.  
  
"Hush. We're not afraid, not at all."  
  
"No, Olivia, no. W're right behind you."  
  
"But, but you have to tell us everything."  
  
Lily looked up at them, and saw only understanding. She breathed deeply to reassure herself, before closing the door.  
  
"I'm, oh this will sound awful at a time like this, but, I'm a - a witch."  
  
Marge and Coraline stared blankly at her. Coraline spoke.  
  
"Travelling magician?"  
  
"No, magic. Real magic. With a wand." at this she took out her own wand. Slightly battered, but in fine working condition.  
  
They stared, not looking very convinced.   
  
"Watch."   
  
Lily opened the door, and allowed the women to see the wreck before them.  
  
"Confinium Reparo!"  
  
Marge and Coraline watched in silent amazement as the pieces of debris bounced back into the wall that had once stood there. The dust settled back in the cracks and crevices, and the overturned furniture flipped back into position. Lily turned anxiously to see the reactions of her entourage.   
  
Marge shook her head in disbelief, and proptly ran out into the living room to investigate.  
  
She could only stare at Lily in awe, before nodding in acceptance. Lily felt relieved.  
  
The three of them jumped at the sound of the high pitched whistle of the kettle.  
  
*  
  
James sat in his apartment, staring out the window. Sirius came behind him.  
  
"Coffee?"  
  
James just shook his head.  
  
"Tea?"  
  
No answer.   
  
"Can we talk?"  
  
James came out of his trance.  
  
"Sure."  
  
Sirius sat in the chair across from James. It was starting to get dark outside.  
  
"It's been two months. No leads. It's like she just dissapeared, right?"  
  
James stared at him.  
  
"Okay, so my point is, she may have disappeared, but did the paperwork?"  
  
"What are you on about?" James said quietly.  
  
"We've tried almost everything, so now it's time to be rebellious...again..."  
  
"By breaking into the ministry?"  
  
"If the information won't come to the wizard, the wizard goes to the information." Sirius said, quoting James from their sixth year at school.  
  
James thought a moment, before he clued in. A smile crept onto his face.  
  
"I'll get the cloak."  
  
Sirius clapped his hands in excitement and sprang out of his chair after James.  
  
*  
  
Lily had led her friends out of town, after an in depth analysis of her witchcrafting abilities, and her real name. She had warned them, however, not to say a word of it in public places. They understood.   
  
The trio was travelling lightly, with mainly money in their pockets, and small, light bags that Lily had magicked everything to fit into.  
  
The older women led Lily to a train station, just on the outskirts of town.   
  
"Next train leaves the station at five, that's less than an hour. I'll se if I can get tickets."   
  
Coraline ran to a small booth, while Lily and Marge went to the bathrooms. Once they had gotten inside, Marge swung her bag onto the counter. Lily locked the door behind them, extracting her wand in the process.  
  
She approached the mirror, looking herself over. Hair first. She waved her wand, and her red brown waves became a dark brown, curled mass. She pulled a hat over her head, feeling awkward already. Marge was doing the same, tucking every stand out of sight.  
  
Next were her eyes. From emerald green, to almost black, she now didn't even recognize herself. She changed out of her dirty clothes, and removed a pair of jeans, sweater, and turtleneck from the bag. Magically altering them to fit her better. She turned to Marge, who was putting on makeup.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Marge did a doubletake.  
  
"Good work, you don't look a thing like ... you..."  
  
Lily smiled. There came a soft knock at the door. Lily went to open it, and Coraline slid in. She jumped at the sight of Lily.   
  
"Is that you?"  
  
"Yes. Did you get the tickets?"  
  
"Mm-hmm, it'll be here in 20 minutes. There's a few other people waiting, six at most."  
  
"How far are we travelling?" asked Marge, shuffling through her bag for a new dress.  
  
"Not very far, about 2 hours on train."  
  
Soon all three were dressed and ready, looking like a different group of people altogether. Each had their ticket, and they had made their plan.  
  
Lily left first, making her way to the far end of the station, where she sat on a bench to wait. She put on a pair of sunglasses, and pretended to be staring off down the track, but was instead watching Marge exit the bathroom next. Coraline came last, just as the train pulled in. They looked like three separate passengers, which was their plan. Lily brought a hand out of her jacket pocket, and climbed into the train. It was very empty, and the others that had been waiting on the platform came wearily into the compartments. Lily made her way past them, inconspicuously checking each compartment for her companions.  
  
She had found Coraline first.  
  
"Could I sit here?" she asked, as a man passed behind her.  
  
"Sure." Coraline said in a fake accent. Lily dropped into a seat, sliding the door closed. Marge came in, looking like she was trying not to laugh.  
  
"Sure." she said, mimicking her friend.  
  
"Shut up, its part of the act."  
  
"Sure." Lily chorused, sending them all into laughter.  
  
As the train eased out of the station, Lily settled back into her chair, looking silently out of the window as the others talked with each other.  
  
'Hogwarts Express.' she thought. She turned to the two women, who were now bickering about a past gig. Lily excused herself from the compartment, saying she'd be back in a while.  
  
Lily traced her finger along the dark wainscotting that ran the length of the train. She glanced at the passing scenery, watching as a few flakes of snow began to fall. Immediately, her mind flashed back to her sixth year.  
  
***  
  
"Come on, Arabella, it's snowing outside! Just for a walk - please?"  
  
"Oh, fine," she said, giving up early. "But if I start sneezing come tomorrow..."  
  
Lily dragged her friend out of the common room and onto the school grounds. There must have been at least 3 feet of snow already on the ground, and still more was falling. Lily wanted to go down to the quidditch pitch, and maybe sit in the stands. There was an excellent view of the school from there.   
  
Arabella was trying to walk in Lily's footsteps, but gave up once she realized that no matter what, her robes would still have snow on them.   
  
The pair had just made their way onto the pitch, when a snowball whipped straight by Lily's ear. She whirled around, but the snow made everything beyond two meters almost invisible. Arabella shrieked, and Lily turned to see that her friend had gotten a snowball right in the shoulder.  
  
Arabella dropped to her knees, and Lily folowed suit.  
  
"I'd bet a thousand to one that I could name the people behind this." she said.  
  
Her friend whined, trying to brush the snow out of her hair.  
  
"Come on, Bella, we need to fight fire with fire. Here, make a bunch of snowballs. Like this."  
  
"Come on, Arabella, it's snowing outside Arabella, just for a walk Arabella..." she muttered, pounding mounds of snow into snowballs. Lily squinted, as another snowball came flying over her head. Another landed right in front of her, spraying her face with snow. She took one of the snowballs in her hand, and threw it as forcefully as she could in the oncoming direction.   
  
The sun was beginning to come out. Her visibility was increasing. She thought she saw a black cloak a little to the right of her. She grabbed another snowball, and threw. Thanks to her talent as a chaser, it had god aim. She heard a muffled "Aurgh!" and a few laughs.   
  
Now there was a bombardement of snowballs, landing all around her and Arabella.   
  
The sun came out farther, and in only a few minutes, the snowfall had ceased.   
  
"I knew it." she said. Lily turned to Arabella. "It's the marauders."  
  
She picked up a snowball and threw it as hard as she could at the one with glasses. It hit him in the back of the neck. His friends stopped, and a low "ooooh" was heard. Lily smiled, and stood, holding something behind her back.  
  
"Hold on a second," James Potter said to his friends. "Let me get this one."  
  
James sprinted over to Lily, stopping just a few fet in front of her. She looked at him.  
  
"Well, Evans, nice arm."  
  
"I thought so."  
  
"But, you see," he began, bending to pick up some snow. "I'd just like to return your gift, as it has no use to me."   
  
He was just about to raise his head, when Lily answered   
  
"And neither does this -" she finished, and slammed the snowball she had been holding - right into his face. He stumbled back, wiping his eyes and removing his glasses, which had gone askew. All of his friends were laughing. Lily waited until he was facing her again, before she walked away.   
  
She felt a snowball hit her in the back of the head.   
  
"That's it!" she yelled, and soon the six students were in an all out war. Arabella threw a few snowballs, one of them hitting Remus, one just bypassing Sirius. She was starting to get into this game.  
  
James and Lily had soon forgotten their friends, and were just trying to defeat one another. Lily tripped, and fell back onto her rear. James laughed, menacingly tossing a snowball up and down in his right hand.   
  
"Say it," he said.  
  
Lily narrowed her eyes, and didn't say anything. She drummed her fingers on the snow.  
  
"James Potter is the most wonderful, charming, intelligent, and perfect guy I know, and he won. Just say it, and I'll drop the snowball."  
  
"Never."  
  
"Okay fine, you asked for it." He raised the snowball, slightly behind his head.  
  
"Drop it," came Arabella. James looked up, and found that his friends too had snow in their hands. The ball fell to the ground.   
  
Sirius smiled, and then turned to hit Peter in the stomach. Peter tried to hit him back, but it hit Remus instead. Remus shrugged, and hit Arabella, who hit Sirius.  
  
Meanwhile, Lily extended her hand to James. He grasped it, and Lily pulled him roughly down into the snow, catching him off guard.   
  
He fell to her left, just inches away from her.  
  
She laughed, as he moved to a seated position.  
  
"Say it." she teased.  
  
He sighed. "James Potter is the most wonderful, charming, intelligent and perfect guy I know, and he won."  
  
Her jaw dropped momentarily. "You're such a prat."  
  
"A wonderful, charming, intelligent -"   
  
Lily shoved him.   
  
"Hey,"  
  
He got to his feet, and offered her his hand this time.   
  
"Not likely." She stood on her own.   
  
He sighed dramatically. "Truce?"  
  
Lily looked at him. He looked serious enough.  
  
"Tempoaray Truce." she said, shaking his still outstretched hand.  
  
"Great! Truce over." his fingers clamped onto her hand, and he twirled her around, before dipping her.  
  
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for a fall. After nothing happened, she opened them slowly. James was looking straight at her. She found herself looking straight at James.   
  
After a brief moment, he gave his infamous grin and said, "It's okay, Evans, I wouldn't have let you fall."  
  
He stood up, and brought her with him. He let go of her hand. Lily's head was spinning like mad, she remembered.   
  
"I'll give you to the count of ten." he said.  
  
Lily bolted.  
  
"Ten ... nine ... aw, hell. One!"  
  
***  
  
Lily found an empty compartment, and sat down, still lost in her own thoughts. She went from one memory to the next, and was close to drifting into sleep, when the train lurched to a halt.  
  
Lily tumbled into the seat in front of her. She got up to look out the window. They were in a town, it looked deserted and almost torn apart. She rubbed her wrist, and sat back down on her seat.  
  
"Would all passengers please proceed to the front of the train. All passenegers to the front of the train. Thank y-" and the power went out. It wasn't very dark outside, just bordering on a cloudy morning, although when Lily poked her head out the door, she could see a few dark patches where the windows separated. She saw a few passengers exiting their compartments, hobbling off towards the front of the train. She stepped out of her own, and followed them.   
  
She was on the last car, and pretty much at the end of the throng of people. She slid open the door that separated the cars, and stepped through. Turning around to shut the door, she saw a man with dark skin wave her down.   
  
'I guess I'm not the last one,' she thought, opening the door for him.   
  
"Thank you, ma'am." he said. He was about the same age as she was, and he looked like a smart business man.   
  
He did a double take of her face, and Lily didn't like the expression that came over him. She turned to walk down the hall, hoping that Marge and Coraline would come looking for her.  
  
"Excuse me, but you just seem oddly familiar."  
  
Lily increased her speed.   
  
"I've never seen you before."  
  
"Do you work for the ministry?"  
  
"No, no I'm not in politics, sorry."  
  
"Ah."  
  
Lily wanted to run, but she had hit another door. Her hand slipped clumsily over the handle. He was right behind her now.  
  
"Did you go to Hogwarts?" he asked slowly, in barely more than a whisper.  
  
She looked over her shoulder. "N- no. I have no idea what school you're talking about." Why couldn't she grasp the handle?  
  
A hand clasped around her left wrist, and Lily winced in pain. He swung her around to face him.  
  
"Then how did you know it was a school?"  
  
"Please, let go -"  
  
"Hah. Not now Ms. Evans. You're not supposed to be here."  
  
"Let go!" she screamed.  
  
He pulled her down to the end of the train, while she tried desperately to untangle her wrist from his grip.   
  
Again and again she screamed, but it was no matter to him.   
  
Westley was going to be promoted for this. 


	6. Line Of Action First Movement

What Was :: 6 ::  
  
Garrison Wallace was pacing around his office, still in a very bad mood, although Lillian Evans had already been in Azkaban for - he looked at his calendar - two months come Thursday. And according to the time - he looked at the clock - 8:56 p.m. , he had been working overtime for twenty-six minutes without even realizing it. He quickly jotted this down on a piece of paper for the Payroll Witch on level four. He folded the paper into a rather clumsy plane with his tounge between his teeth. Once he had grabbed his coat and a large cigar from the box on his desk, Wallace left his office and proceeded to throw the paper airplane down the hallway before locking the door and heading on the opposite direction for the stairwell.  
  
*  
  
James and Sirius had just found their way to the corner of Diagon Alley and a dusty alleyway - one that could have fit a wide bottomed opera singer and her bright red handbag, but nothing more. James pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself and Sirius.  
  
"This thing just isn't as big as it used to be -"  
  
"If you had laid off of the meringue earlier, but no. Just bend your knees a little -"  
  
"What do you think I'm doing? You're hogging two thirds of the cloak, you cheap ba-"  
  
"Sirius shut UP - the door!"  
  
The two best friends looked down the alleyway, just in time to see a cloaked figure step out from between a pile of upturned wooden baskets and an array of scrap metal. He readjusted the collar of his cloak and let out a few puffs from a large cigar in his mouth before ambling sideways out of the alleyway. Sirius and James stayed close to the wall, James nearest to the corner by only a few inches. All at once, Garrison Wallace's face poked out, almost looking James in between the eyes. He had to hold his breath against the foul cigar smoke slowly curling around in front of him.  
  
Garrison seemed to stare for ages.  
  
'He can't see through cloaks, he can't see through cloaks. Not without his glasses,' James repeated reassuringly to himself.  
  
After a few more minutes, Garrison emerged fully from his hiding spot, content that no one would see him coming from the alleyway. James' head turned to look at Sirius, who had his eyes closed tightly and his face all screwed up in deep disgust.  
  
When the hunch of the man's back had disappeared down the deserted street, Sirius' eyes popped open, and a great blast of air came out of his mouth.  
  
"What the hell was he smoking? Dried dragon dung? Oh holy god -"  
  
James laughed silently. They edged around the corner, Sirius still swatting the air around his face with his hand, annoyed when it got tangled in the cloak.  
  
Once they reached the slight gap betwen the garbadge piles, James swore into the night air.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We can't use our cards to get in."  
  
Sirius stared blankly at him.  
  
"Are you new?" he said incredulously. A corner of the cloak blew into his face. His hand shot up and started pulling the cloak roughly off of himself. Once it had formed a round knot around his forearm, he flicked his wrist angrily until it hit James square in the chest.  
  
He cleared his throat.  
  
"Are you new?" he said again.  
  
"If you think a hairpin is going to work on that -" he said, gesturing to a small slit between the ground and wall - so faint that it just looked like a crack from old age.  
  
The two went on, silently bickering over how they were going to get in.  
  
Little to their knowledge, a cigar-weilding official was quickly making his way back towards the darkening alleyway, having forgotten his briefcase in his rush to get home.  
  
*  
  
Lily's free hand was hitting every inch of the man in front of her. After the third or fourth left hook that Westley took to the shoulder, he spun around to face her.  
  
"Once more - so help me - just do it once more and see what happens."  
  
Lily couldn't care less. Anyone who was involved with bringing her down was a bug that needed to be squashed. It happened in a heartbeat - Lily's hand clamped around the man's neck, squeezing as hard as she could, just as he let go of her left hand to use both of his in trapping her throat in the same way.  
  
As the oxygen was slowly being cut off, Lily realized what her last thought had been.  
  
Anyone who was involved with bringing her down was a bug that needed to be squashed.  
  
"No," she choked out, "No, please!"  
  
His hands closed - if possible, even tighter. Her body went weak as her brain was shutting down. Lily stumbled until her back hit the wall. Her eyes were rolling, but the man - she could still see the man's eyes. An incomprehensible look in them.  
  
"James," she cried out, without even realizing what she was saying. It came so silently, as if a plea. If Westley hadn't been in her face at that moment, he wouldn't have heard it at all. But he was standing there, and he did hear the name.  
  
Lily's eyes closed - feeling ready to vomit, but knowing that she no longer had the strength to do it. Her hands lost their grip on Westley's fingers and fell limp at her sides.  
  
Westley didn't notice the woman's sudden stop in resisting. An image had formed in front of him - almost like a video reel.  
  
James had just said something funny. Westley was sitting across the table from him, almost choking on a potato chip as Sirius approached them with his own lunch.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Nothing. Westley seems to be enjoying our schoolday antics."  
  
"Does he now?"  
  
Sirius turned to him.  
  
"Did he tell you about pushing Lily into the lake in second year?"  
  
"I never pushed. She just ... got in the way of my arm, is all."  
  
Westley laughed even harder, burying his head in his hands to wipe away the tears from laughing so hard. When he finally pulled them away to see again, he realized that he wasn't in the lunchroom anymore. He was on a train, and there was a dead woman crumpled at his feet.  
  
*  
  
"No YOU listen. We can just use that piece of tin can there, and if we can find some nails -"  
  
"There's no time, genius. We need ... to ..."  
  
"... what? We need to what? Don't - don't space out on me like that. Think, James. Th-"  
  
But whatever Sirius was about to say was muffled by the invisibility cloak being thrown over him. The cloak itself had barely draped over their feet before Garrison Wallace edged back into the alleyway.  
  
Sirius turned to look over his shoulder, and in seconds had shoved James behind the pile of scrap metal. James smacked Sirius upside the head, and mouthed 'What did you do that for?'  
  
Sirius hit him back. He pointed to a few very faint footprints in the dust where they had just moments ago stood. Garrison Wallace was treading all over them as he fought to extract his key.  
  
James gulped.  
  
"Sorry," he whispered.  
  
Sirius jut shot him an ugly look while he rubbed the back of his head, before he froze. He stooped to pick up a dirty and rusted goblet, and before James could work out that his friend was moving out from underneath the cloak he had thrown it to the ground.  
  
James' eyes went as round as saucers as the sharp clang of metal on stone shook the silence.  
  
Sirius again felt the sharp smack of something on the back of his head. He turned to face what (to anyone who didn't know better) would have been labelled dead air. He jumped at this "empty space" and wrestled it to the ground. He was confident that he had James in a headlock when the cloak fell to the ground and he realized it was just his elbow.  
  
He coughed quickly and let go.  
  
"Lay OFF with the annoying hitting like that okay?"  
  
James spoke in a voice that he was trying to keep quiet, even though Sirius was speaking loudly.  
  
"Wallace would have heard you, don't you think?"  
  
Sirius leant back on his heels to survey the entrance to the Auror HQ.  
  
"You'd have thought he would have come back, then."  
  
James' shoulders relaxed, and he too looked over at the entranceway. Deserted.  
  
"Are you using your eyes like a good boy?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Look at the doorway. That rusted piece of crap had to go somewhere."  
  
James looked at the doorway again. There, at the bottom, sat the goblet. Wedged between the door and the wall, holding it open for them.  
  
"Sirius, you're -"  
  
"A genius, yes I know. But you and your physical abuse may have killed off valuable braincells."  
  
James interrupted at 'yes I know.'  
  
"Okay, follow my lead."  
  
James pushed the door open very slowly, the goblet rolling into a black abyss. James edged into the darkness, letting Sirius creep in behind him. Once the door closed, the darkness consumed them completely.  
  
A shiver ran up Sirius' spine. He should have thought of this earlier. This was going to give their times in school a run for their money. They could be caught, fired, put in prison even.  
  
His smile couldn't have been any bigger than it was right now. 


End file.
